Health expo gets help from long distance

Ramiro Meneses of Santa Ana, right, gets his eyes examined Sunday with a pupilometer by volunteer David Golub at the fourth annual Central County Health Expo at Santa Ana High School. Meneses was being fitted for free eyeglasses.EUGENE GARCIA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

SANTA ANA – About 400 people seeking dental treatment at a free health fair were turned away Sunday because there weren't nearly enough dentists to see them.

The need would have been far greater had five dentists from Columbia University not shown up for the weekend, and if a Tennessee nonprofit hadn't brought in truckloads of equipment.

If you count the total number of people helped, the fourth annual Central County Health Expo was a big success. About 2,000 men, women and children, most without health insurance, got checkups, prescriptions, eye exams, glasses, fillings and even tooth extractions, all for free. Everyone who went to the medical tents received attention Saturday and Sunday, and all but 50 people needing vision services were seen. But only 132 dental patients got in.

Remote Area Medical, the Knoxville volunteer group, parked two massive tractor-trailers on the Santa Ana High School campus. Inside, technicians ran tests and ground lenses for new glasses. The trucks also had brought 72 dental chairs and work stations, 62 of which remained stowed away.

"Local health-care professionals can be very difficult to recruit because they want to take the weekend off," said Jean Jolly, coordinator of RAM's Reach Across America program, which sends mobile units to underserved areas, both rural and urban.

This is the second time RAM has worked on an event with Illumination Foundation, the Irvine-based nonprofit that hosted the expo. Illumination knew demand would be high inside the gym that served as a makeshift dental office. The foundation put the word out late last week that there would be a shortage of dentists. "Three came quickly" on Saturday, said Yelena Westberg, a registered nurse who's director of clinical operations for the foundation. Five more O.C. dentists came Sunday.

Westberg noted that the expo had strong competition from the California Dental Association's expo in Anaheim, held Thursday through Saturday. She said it's also difficult for busy dentists to make the time.

"They work all week, so when we ask them to come out all day Saturday and Sunday, that makes for a really long weekend. And they have to stand on their feet all day. Plus, they want to see their families," she said.

California used to prevent out-of-state dentists from treating patients here. But in December, a rules change went into effect allowing practitioners to come for free events. That's how the five dentists from Columbia's College of Dental Medicine came to be in Santa Ana. Backed by a grant from the school, they flew in Friday and were scheduled to return to New York on Sunday night.

The five were female pediatric dentists because they thought there would be lots of children to treat. There were far more adults waiting, likely because dental benefits for adults were mostly dropped from Medi-Cal in 2009.

"We saw 10 to 15 kids, unfortunately not as many as we expected," said Dr. Maria Velasco. "But we're here to help. Whether we have kids or adults, we want to help them."

Martha Espinoza, a single mom from Tustin, was beaming after getting her chipped left front tooth fixed with a crown. She also got free glasses the day before, and her daughter Jasmine, 13, had four fillings. Martha had not seen a dentist in four years, and she said the treatment she received might help her get a job; she's got two interviews Monday.

"People will say, 'Get a life, get a job.' Yeah, but we don't got the tools. We don't got the money to pick up ourselves," she said. "This is a big lift."

County Supervisor Janet Nguyen, who co-hosted and helped plan the expo, was asked what it says about the county's system that so much of the expo's success relied on outside help.

"It definitely says we have to re-evaluate our own situation in Orange County," she said. "We need to re-evaluate how we deal with health coverage, because ultimately if we can do preventive care, then the emergency rooms will not be filled."

Ramiro Meneses of Santa Ana, right, gets his eyes examined Sunday with a pupilometer by volunteer David Golub at the fourth annual Central County Health Expo at Santa Ana High School. Meneses was being fitted for free eyeglasses. EUGENE GARCIA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Martha Espinoza of Tustin shows off her new crown Sunday at the fourth annual Central County Health Expo at Santa Ana High School. Espinoza's daughter Jasmine, 13, also received free dental treatments. EUGENE GARCIA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Dozens stand in line for free health screenings and treatment Sunday at the fourth annual Central County Health Expo at Santa Ana High School. Vision and dental services were offered along with other treatments. EUGENE GARCIA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Pham Van Nho, 63, of Stanton tries on some of the free eyeglasses frames offered at the fourth annual Central County Health Expo on Sunday at Santa Ana High School. The two-day free event supplied vision, dental and health screenings. EUGENE GARCIA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Patients get free dental treatments at the fourth annual Central County Health Expo in a gym at Santa Ana High School. Dental filings and extractions were among the services donated. EUGENE GARCIA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Stacks of kids' eyeglasses await recipients at the fourth annual Central County Health Expo at Santa Ana High School. Free vision and dental services were offered along with other treatments. EUGENE GARCIA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Dozens stand in line for free health screenings and treatment at the fourth annual Central County Health Expo at Santa Ana High School. Vision and dental services were offered along with other treatments. EUGENE GARCIA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

1 of

User Agreement

Keep it civil and stay on topic. No profanity, vulgarity, racial
slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about
tragedies will be blocked. By posting your comment, you agree to
allow Orange County Register Communications, Inc. the right to
republish your name and comment in additional Register publications
without any notification or payment.